Bush defends decision on North Korea

Posted: Monday, July 07, 2008

TOYAKO, Japan - President Bush on Sunday defended removing North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism and attending the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics as world leaders assembled to address soaring gas prices, climate change and African aid.

They faced major differences, especially over how far to go in trying to set limits on pollutants that contribute to global warming.

The host of this year's Group of Eight summit, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, and other leaders would like to see the top industrialized nations and other fast-growing economies such as China and India pledge a 50 percent cut by 2015 in the emissions that contribute to global warming. The Bush administration has not shown any enthusiasm for such a commitment without cooperation from the Chinese and Indians.

"I've always advocated that there needs to be a common understanding and that starts with a goal. And I also am realistic enough to tell you that if China and India don't share that same aspiration, that we're not going to solve the problem," Bush said at a pre-summit news conference with Fukuda.

The leaders of the U.S., Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Canada and Russia planned to kick off the meeting today at a remote mountaintop resort overlooking a lake formed by a volcanic crater on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

The session ends Wednesday with a larger gathering that brings in eight additional countries - Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea and South Africa.

Hundreds of protesters rallied under heavy police security Sunday. A demonstration by about 2,500 people Saturday led to a brief clash with police.

Before the G-8 talks, Bush planned to meet with Russia's new president, Dmitry Medvedev, who took office last month as ex-President Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor. Putin still wields enormous influence at home as prime minister.

At a news conference with Fukuda, Bush addressed Japanese concerns over the kidnapping of Japanese citizens by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. Those abducted apparently were used to train North Korean agents in Japanese language and customs.

Japanese citizens are upset about the U.S. move to remove North Korea from the State Department's terror blacklist in exchange for the North's decision to admit to some of its nuclear weapons work and begin dismantling its nuclear facilities.

As a condition for sending aid and improving relations with the impoverished North, Japan long has pushed for the resolution of the issue of the abductions.

Bush also defended his decision to attend the Olympics opening ceremonies Aug. 8.

The leaders of Great Britain, Germany and Canada are not attending. And the French president is considering not attending.

"The Chinese people are watching very carefully about the decisions by world leaders and I happen to believe that not going to the opening ceremony for the games would be an affront to the Chinese people, which may make it more difficult to be able to speak frankly with the Chinese leadership," Bush said.